Freebies

I'm a sucker for free stuff.

I remember, as a kid, going with my parents to shop for a backyard hot tub. The place they bought from was a tiny little operation, but was great. The thing I remember most about it was getting freebies. Even after he made the sale, the owner showered us with goodies. Free extra filters, free chemicals, other free accessories, and even some free rubber duckies. All in all, it was probably worth a tiny fraction of his profit margin on the tub, but it certainly had an impact (not just on me, but my parents were very happy with the service and perceived value, too).

Unfortunately, the shop closed many years ago, but if it hadn't I would certainly be recommending it even today to anyone looking for spa equipment.

Much more recently, I had my dog at a local dog park. On he way out, we were stopped by a person handing out leaflets -- coupons for a couple of free dog biscuits at Three Dog Bakery, which had just opened a location nearby.

(Could you imagine any better targeting of your target audience?)

Anyways, the shop was on the way home, so we stopped there to check it out and get the freebies.

Once inside, the brand experience was great, with an extremely friendly employee and a nice little store to explore. We collected our free treats, and the shopkeeper also included a few other goodies to take home to sample. And gave our dog a bunch of bits and pieces of treats to try right there in the store.

And it worked -- on our way out, we bought several things that we might otherwise have not bothered with. But even more importantly, I was thoroughly impressed with the product quality, attitude, selection, and other aspects of the store and will definitely be returning (and recommending them).

One final note about this experience:
As we were leaving, a couple of little kids came into the store. They were participating in some sort of treasure hunt or "Amazing Race" activity. Apparently, their task at this store was to buy a dog biscuit for $1 and feed it to a dog. Ours was the only one there, so he lucked out yet again. What a great way to end this visit: seeing that the store is participating in a local event or organization, witnessing the store employee being absolutely great with the kids (making sure they asked before approaching a dog, etc.), AND getting another free goody.